Roof construction for railway-cars.



l. l. SOUDER.

nooFicoNmRcTloN F'on RAILWAY cARs.

EAPPLICATION FILED 14u16, 191e.

Patented' 001:. 10,1916;

im vente JACOB J. SOUDER, OF WASHNGTON, .DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Leccese.

Speciicaton of LettersPatent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

Application fried January se, 191e. semi No. 74,304..

To aZlfwLom t may concern Be it known that I, Jaco J. Sonnen, (whose post-oilice address is 11117 F street, NVV.,) a citizen of the United States, residing at Vvrashington, in the District of (iobody, when the car is in motion, and more lumbia., have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roof Construction-tor Railway-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,` such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to in'iproveinents in' metallic railway cars, and more particularly to the roof construction of the same, and to a means for. securing the latter on the body of the former.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a simplified construction of the character mentioned, and one in which the means, aforesaid, admits of indepciulent movement of the roof with respect to the are applied without the use of nails, screws,

ist

or solder, and which, after being asseu'ibled, may be independently removed, by reason of the nature of the securing` means, with- 'out necessitating the unfastcning or removal of the roof, or of any Vportion of the same. With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in the certain' new' and useful construction and 'arrangement of parts as Will be hereinafter more fully described, set forth in the appended claims, .and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, lin whichz- Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical trans-4 verse section, of a known type of railway car construction, showing the roof positioned thereon, and the improved method of se,- curingthe latter to .thebodv of the car, Fig. 2isa similar View, as in Fig. 1, showingal modified form of roof supporting cary line or truss construction, Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional detail'showingl ne form of the'nnprovedcarhne construction, Fig.

11 is a view, similar to that of F ig. 3, showv ing the completed connection between the carline and the roofing elements supported thereby, Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional detail showing anctherform of carline construction, Fig. 6 is a fragmentary end elevation showing the finished end of a carline after being completed, as in Fig. f1, F ig. 7`

is a detail view of a ruiming board supporting block securing means in position to be fastened to the carline, the latter being shown in section. Fig. S is a fragmentary sectional view of a. ruiming-board supportingblock, the securing means for the same, and of the cai-line to which the block secui-iinY means is fastened. Rererence being had to the accompanying drawing, inivhich similar characters of reference designate correspondingr parts in the several views thereof, the numeral 10 indicates'the bod \v of a car, of usual metallic construction. but, preferably embodying an inset angular portion 11 to provide a channel or seat for the reception of the Stringer or sheathing plate 12,'which is secured within the channel in the usual manner.

Spaced transversely of the body, and supported at their opposite ends upon the upper faces of the stringers 12, are a plurality` of carlines or trusses 13, preferably of inverted V-shape formation. Depending from and riveted, or otherwise secured, to the opposit'ely disposed flanges 14:, of the car-lines 13, and spaced inward of the ends thereof, are angular bracket elements'15, which are arranged to project -under a flange' 16, formed with the inset angular portion l1, of the car body, and to spacedly underlie the same. A loosely fitted bolt, or bolts, 17 is passed thronghthe Harige 16 and through cach of the brackets 15, and is provided, at its? free end belowothe under face of the latter, with a Cotter pin 18, or other suitable securing element.' 4

ln the modified form of ,the invention, shown in Fig. 2, greater rigidity is to be had to the carline construction, aforesaid, and to the securing brzickets 15,--by interconnecting the latter by means of abrace or truss member 19, the opposite ends of ,the member 19 y being` riveted or otherwisesecured, to the under faces of the bracket members, and, in which case,'the bolts 17 pass through and pro]ect below'the under face of the fbrace,

Ithe' latter-being of angle iron, preferably, of

an inverted T-shape in cross-section. Under normal running conditions of a car embodyingthis method of securing the carlines in position, when suitable roofing material, or sections of such material, have been laid on the carlines in any desired manner, it is to be noted that the roof is free for a sullicient vertical movement to render it practically impossible for the transmittalthereto of the usual rolling and twisting movement of the car body, thus eliminating the destructive st 'ains and stresses thereto, now common in the known types of car roofs, and methods of securing the same in position.

The invention, however, contemplates a specific form of carline construction, and,

referring more particularly to Fig. 3, the

same comprises a pair of substantially L- shaped angle members 20, disposed in reversed parallel relation, and clamping, between their vertical parallel flanges, the over-lapped edges of a folded sheet metal securing member 2l, the intermediate portion of the latter being formed into a somewhat fiattened loop 22, the opposite edges of which extend to4 either side, in a slight 'downward inclined position, and overlie respective horizontal flanges of the angle members 20. The vertical flanges, and the over-lapped edges of the member 21, are secured togetlier by means of rivets 23, which are preferably counter-sunk inthe 'faces of the said flanges. Roofing sections 24C, having side flanges 25, are vadaptedto be inserted between each pair of carlines, and supported upon the horizontal flanges of the latter, the ianges 25, of the sections, contacting adjacent faces of the vertical flanges, andA Secured in such relation, by the folding down of the respective over-hanging portion of the securing member 21, as shown in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 5, a carline construction isshown, wherein the same comprises an inverted T- shaped member 26 having the opposite fold- 'ed edges of a securing'member 27 disposed along the opposite faces of its vertical flange Q8, andsecured thereto by means of rivets 29, as shown. The roofing sections 24: are supported upon the horizontal flanges, of

the member 26, .and secured thereon in the:

usual manner, aforesaid.

ln Figs. 6 and 7, there is-shown a preferred form of securing means for positioning running-board supporting blocks at the ridge-of the roof, andthe same comprises oppositely disposed clips 30, of sheet metal, adapted for engagement over the opposite edges of either the securing member 21, or the similar member 27, prior to the folding of the latter into position for securing the roofing sections 24 to the carlines, and are .rigidly retained in operative position., when ...the said members 2l' or 27 are folded into O erative position, asA shown in Fig. Tide clips.30 arepconnected at opposite sides of an eye-bolt 31 by means of a pin 32. These securing devices are arranged in pairs, one to either side of the ridge of the roof, to engage in grooves 33, formed in the blocks 34, and have their bolt-members 3l projected through the block to receive a securing nut 35, which preferably lies within a counter-sunk opening 36, formed in the upper face of the block. After the block is thus secured in position on the roof, suitable running-boards 37 are secured in proper position on the` latter. It is to be desired that the opposite extremities 38. of the se- ,curfing members 2l and 27 be bent around, pr over, the outer ends of the carlines, as Ishown in Fig. 8, to give finish to the construction and the assembly of the roofing sections, as well as to provide an air and water-tight joint at this point.

To adapt the roof, thus provided, for use in connection with refrigerator cars, or the like, tl e invention contemplates the provision of) to be made into a number of sections corresponding to the number of spaces between the several carlines and each of said sections loosely supported in proper position uponlthe opposed horizontal flanges of the T-shaped braces or trusses`l9, thus form- .ing a dead air space, extending the length of the car, between the roof and the ceiling, and insulating the interior of the car from the effects of all external temperatures. The sections of ceiling may be of any desired and suitable construction,'or made up of the tongue and groove board construction, now in common use for such purpose. It is to be noted of this arrangement, that the ceiling sections, in no way, interfere with the desired independent movement of the -`a ceiling, not shown, the samel roof in its adjustment on the body of the car, for the purpose forth.

It is to be understood thatvarious changes in the detail construction and arrangement of the parts of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the same.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is-..claimed', is

1. A raillway carv comprising a body, and a roof, of unitary construction, mounted for vertical movement relative to the body. A

2. A railway car comprising a body, and a roof, of unitary metallic construction, mounted for vertical movement relative to the body.

3. A railway 'car comprising a. metallic body, and a roof', of unitary construction, moi nted for vertical movement relative to the ody.

4. A railway car comprising a metallic body, and' a roof, of' unitary metallic conas phereinbefore set ,relative to the body. i

5. A railway vcar comprising a body, and a sectional roof, the sections of the latter being secured together to provide a unitary construction, mounted for vertical movement relative to the body.

6. A railway car comprising a body, carlines spaced transversely of said body and loosely secured for vertical movement'with respect thereto, and roofing elements secured kto said carlines.

7. A railway car comprising a body, carlines spaced transversely of said body and lloosely secured for vertical movement with -respect thereto, and sectional roofing ele ments rigidly secured to said carlines.

S. A railway car comprising a body, carlines ,spaced transversely of said body, means for securing said carlines to said .body for vertical movement with respect thereto, and sectional roofing elements interposed bet tween said carlines and secured rigidly thereto.

a9. A railway car comprising a metallic body, carlines spaced transversely' of said body, securing bracketscarried by said car-- lines, fastening means loosely connecting said brackets to said body, and sectional rooting elements secured to said carlines.

, 10. A railway car comprisinga metallic body, carlines spaced transversely of said body, ysecuring brackets carried bysaid carlines, securing flanges carried by said body, fastening means loosely connecting said brackets to said securing ianges, and sectional rooling elements secured to said carlines. A

1l. A railway car comprising a metallic body, carlines spaced transversely of said body, securing brackets lspaced inwardly of the ends of said carlines, trusses connecting said brackets, securing langes carried by said body, fastening means loosely connecting said brackets and their adjacent truss ends to said flanges, and sectional roofing elements secured to said carlines.

12. A railway car comprising a metallic body, a channel extending around the upper edges of the walls of said body, stringers carried in said channel, flanges formed with said channel, carlines spaced transversely of said body vand supported on said stringers, securing brackets carried by said carlines and engaging under said flanges in spaced relation thereto, fastening means loosely connecting said brackets to said langes, and sectional rooiing elements secured to said carlines.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JACOB J. SOUDER. 

